RE: Fork Oil…how often? - 2

I’ve just started work on the non ESA leg. I’m waiting on the wife, who’s swimming in Windermere so I can loosen the locknut on the top cap.
The oil was changed by a dealer at 18,000 miles. It’s pretty much as dark as can be at 44,000. Leads me to wonder if it was ever done.
The head bearings and the steering damper all seem fine although I’ll remove the damper to check it anyway.

All done. The oil from the ESA leg was almost clear. From YouTube this seems the norm.

1 litre of oil is just enough for both legs. I used Motul 10W.

The old seals came out easily enough. The dust seal using a chisel and mallet with the flat edge of the chisel on the tube side and angled away. One blow and they popped out. The main seals came out using a flat tyre lever with a bit of rag protecting the tube. Very easy and they came out with just the one leverage.

The SKF fork seals come strongly recommended from the BeemerShop. The old ones weren't leaking, it was just something I felt was worth doing. The new ones are green

The main seals replacement was straightforward using the Motion Pro seal driver. The dust seals not so as the driver bears on the seal lip but they actually go in fine by hand.

Tools needed were a fork spring compressor (My Laser Tools one fit perfectly), a shim made out of a large washer (as per Haynes manual) and the seal driver. A hand from a 2nd person too occasionally for the RH leg, when compressing the spring and fitting the washer.

It's a straightforward job, and if the seals aren't changed even more so. I had a good clean underneath the bike and checked the steering damper lubricating the rose joints.

My front wheel bearings are holding up fine confirming that the problem earlier was the corroded spindle tearing the seal on the RH side.

I used the Haynes manual and this Youtube video https://youtu.be/WCHu9sfTgdw?si=moa9KDQyYOIv6wNP

I've held off doing the brakes as the front pads are close to their wear limit. I'm off to S.E. Asia for over 30 days soon and I'll buy some new pads on my return. Money is tight at the moment

So fairly straightforward. Until the next time.

Peter

I replaced my front tire and renewed the brake pads on my 16RS at 48,500-miles. When I compress the front suspension (pushing forward on the bars with front brake applied), the forks seem to rebound with a clunk. The bike has never had the fork service, since the seals seem fine.

Thoughts?

I had the fork oil changed on the 30.000km service recently for my 2020 RS1250.
Could not tell any difference of course, but I bet BMW has an idea of why (condense / corrosion / . . ?? )

Zitat von RS_Lars im Beitrag #19

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I had the fork oil changed on the 30.000km service recently for my 2020 RS1250.
Could not tell any difference of course, but I bet BMW has an idea of why (condense / corrosion / . . ?? )

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Forgive me if this seems irrelevant, I changed the fork oil and seals on my R100RS last weekend, in truth the annual mileage on that bike is very low but the fork oil had not been changed for several years ( I’m more considerate of the engine), I had a run out on Sunday and the forks seemed far more progressive and the “clunks” from wherever had disappeared. This doesn’t prove very much other than at some point, fork oil replacement is worth the effort. Next step is to fit a fork brace, those long narrow forks have a tendancy to “ go for a walk” - thankfully that’s not an issue on a modern RS!

Zitat von Boxerboy im Beitrag #22

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Forgive me if this seems irrelevant, I changed the fork oil and seals on my R100RS last weekend, in truth the annual mileage on that bike is very low but the fork oil had not been changed for several years ( I’m more considerate of the engine), I had a run out on Sunday and the forks seemed far more progressive and the “clunks” from wherever had disappeared. This doesn’t prove very much other than at some point, fork oil replacement is worth the effort. Next step is to fit a fork brace, those long narrow forks have a tendancy to “ go for a walk” - thankfully that’s not an issue on a modern RS!

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So, I previously said I hadn’t changed the oil.

And nothing has changed. Bike has passed 50K miles and I’ve not noticed any deterioration in the suspension after 40K miles on my custom shocks.

When it leaks it will get serviced.